Meet the Badass Women of the UFC

Saying somebody "fights like a girl" is usually meant as an insult. But you may change your mind about that after watching the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, which premieres this Wednesday, September 10th, at 10pm ET on FOX Sports 1. The series features two teams of fierce MMA fighters, not a single Y chromosome among them, competing to be crowned the first strawweight champion in UFC history.

In a sport known for its brutality, can women actually hold their own? Anthony Pettis, the current UFC lightweight champion and coach for one of the Ultimate Fighter teams, assures us that they can. "They're real ladies outside the Octagon," he says. "But when it comes time to fight, they're just like us. I was surprised at how intense their fighting could be."

We sat down with the 8 members of Team Pettis—Angela Hill, Tecia Torres, Felice Herrig, Randa Markos, Joanne Calderwood, Aisling Daly, Heather Clark, and Lisa Ellis—and asked the tough questions. If this is what fighting like a girl looks like in 2014, count us in.

Stock image courtesy of Corbis Images

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Randa Markos

You and your family escaped from Iraq during the Gulf War. How bad was it?

We were held hostage, and then my dad was separated from us, and we struggled through the entire process. But thankfully, we ended up getting out of there alive. I don't remember much about what happened to me in the Middle East. But the experience did make me a lot stronger, and it made me able to face a lot of things that might've been insurmountable before.

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Randa Markos

Your dad came from a very male-dominated culture. Was he comfortable with you pursuing a sport that's typically male-centric?

He has no idea that I do mixed martial arts. I mean, I think he's starting to realize. He's seen some things in the paper, and he's like, "I didn’t know you did this."

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Randa Markos

Your relationship with father doesn't sound all that healthy.

He wasn’t very supportive. Growing up, it was a real struggle. When I was wrestling, he came to the gym, grabbed me by my ear and pulled me out of practice. It was awful. I remember him screaming at me, "You’re never going to do this again!" I kept wrestling, cause I wanted to. If you want me to stop doing something, I'm going to need a good reason. Otherwise, sorry, it's my life, not yours.

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Randa Markos

What’s the worst injury you've ever gotten in the cage?

Nothing serious. I had some stitches on my lip and my upper eye. It always looks worse than it is. The blood can get a little crazy. But you don't notice that when you're in a fight. You don’t realize your face is split open. When it happens, you don't put two and two together. You're like “Where is this blood coming from?" You have no idea. But then I looked in the mirror and it totally freaked me out. I was like, "Oh my god."

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Felice Herrig

You're billed as a girly-girl. Do you wear make-up for a fight?

Always. I think it's important to look good when you fight. Not just with makeup, but with your outfit. I like to dress in themes. I’ve done a Super Girl theme. I’ve done Chun-Li from Street Fighter. I did a schoolgirl theme.

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Felice Herrig

Do women fight differently than men?

Women are more emotional. Men will be meaner to their opponents, and they don't take it as seriously or as much to heart. But if a girl fighter says something mean about another girl fighter, they like take it personally and they get mad. A lot of them bring their emotions into the cage.

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Felice Herrig

What was your worst injury?

I’ve actually never really gotten injured in a fight. I’ve only been injured training. One time, somebody hit me with a spinning back-kick and broke my arm. I’ve never really had anything else that was too severe, other than a black eye. It actually looked really good. I thought it was hot.

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Felice Herrig

You think a black eye is hot?

Well, it depends. Not all black eyes are the same. A big one just looks like you got beat up. But a small one, it’s a story. It’s like, "Oh, I wonder if somebody hit her. Did somebody hit you, little girl? I feel sad for you." [Laughs.] If only they knew.

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Heather Clark

You played hockey before getting into MMA. And yet you appear to have all your original teeth. How did that happen?

In women’s hockey, you have to wear a face shield.

Did you get into any fights?

Quite a few. That was definitely part of my game. [Laughs.]

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Heather Clark

You played hockey with both guys and girls?

Yes. In high school I played on an all-boys’ team, like full contact.

Did you get into as many fights with the guys as you did the girls?

It was about 50/50. The guys would pick on me because I was a girl. They’d pull my braid or hit me really hard on the ice. Most of the time they were just messing around.

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Heather Clark

Do guys fight differently than girls?

It depends on the size of the guy. I’ve sparred with guys that were 115 all the way up to 170 pounds. Some of them are afraid to hit you. They're like, "My mom told me never to hit a woman. So they’ll just barely hit you, and then they’re like, “Oh my God, I’m sorry!" I’m like, “No. Like, you can hit me harder than that."

Anybody take it too far?

The smaller guys tend to have an ego problem, so they end up hitting a little harder than they should. But I’ve had big guys who went too far. There was a 170 pound guy that would throw a nice stiff jab or leg kick or something, and I’d have to be like, "Hey, bro. What the fuck?" You know? "Come on!"

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Heather Clark

You apparently have a devastating right-hand punch.

I’ve been told by many people that I hit harder than some guys. [Laughs.]

Any pointers?

Either you have it or you don’t. But if you really want to increase your power, you need to go and hit the bag as hard as you can. It also helps to visualize yourself hitting something like a baseball bat, or following through with a slap shot. Whatever your sport is. It could be tennis or whatever. I don’t really play much tennis, but that follow-through is import. It’s super important.

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Tecia Torres

You've been fighting since you were 5. Were you a terror in kindergarten?

Not at all.

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Tecia Torres

You were never like, "That bitch don't know how to share? I'll show her how to share."

[Laughs.] No, no, no! I’m a true martial artist. I only practice in competition or in the gym. Outside the gym and the ring, I’ve never gotten into a real fight. I avoid confrontation at all cost. I don’t like it.

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Tecia Torres

You have a degree in sociology?

Actually, it was a double-major in criminal justice and sociology. I thought I was going to become a cop or work for the government. But after graduating, I was 20 and I told my mom I still wanted to pursue this dream of mine, of becoming a MMA fighter. If it all falls apart, I still have my degrees to fall back on.

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Tecia Torres

You don't drink and you don't smoke. If we can paraphrase Adam Ant, what do you do? What's your bad habit?

I eat really bad. If there's a pantry filled with junk food, I'll finish it all. Like literally, all of it. There'll just be empty packages by the time I'm done.

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Angela Hill

Your nickname is Overkill. Where did that come from?

It comes from my style of fighting. I always plan to start off slow and work my way up, but usually right after the bell rings, I'm just boom, boom, boom, boom! Also, "Overkill" rhymes with Hill. Which is kinda nice. It wouldn't be as catchy if my last name was, like, Henderson.

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Angela Hill

You went to Cooper Union, an art school, before getting involved with MMA. What happened?

Well, it's funny, actually. When I graduated I was like, "Oh no, I’m going to be poor." But then I got a job at an animation studio, and it was great. Except I was working 12-hour days, hunched in front of a computer. I was getting fat. So I gave that up pretty quick. [Laughs.]

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Angela Hill

Do art school students get into physical fights? Or is it more civilized?

It’s pretty civilized. When they beat each other up, they do it with words.

Is it fair to say that you’re still an artist, but your new canvas is the faces of your opponents?

You grew up in Maryland, but these days you're living in Brooklyn. Does New York make you tougher?

Oh yeah. I've been here for about 11 years, and it definitely makes you tougher. Just because you have to deal with crazy people all the time. You're dodging transvestite prostitutes on your way home from work. Or guys catcalling you on the street. I’m usually pretty nice, unless they get disrespectful, you know?

What's the best way to take an aggressive fan down?

Go straight for the balls.

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Joanne Calderwood

Your nickname is "The Silent Assassin." Where did that come from?

I think it's just cause I'm really quiet, and I've got a very soft voice. A lot of people can't really hear me when I'm talking, cause I'm so quiet. But I'm not so quiet when I get in the cage. I can handle myself. That's when I become an assassin.

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Joanne Calderwood

The Silent Assassin could be a comic book superhero. Has Stan Lee approached you yet?

No, but I always wanted to be in a comic book. One of the guys I train with is a really good drawer, and he did a drawing of me standing on a mountain of bodies. I thought that was really cool. But I was like, "Can you add some socks?" Cause I like knee-high socks.

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Joanne Calderwood

Before a fight, how do you get yourself into the zone?

I just try to keep calm. It's a very stressful experience when you're about to fight. You're nervous, you're connecting the dots in your head about what could happen. The less you think, the better. I try to be around people who make me feel calm.

Don't you need a little aggression?

To an extent. But when I'm out there. I'm not thinking, "I'd really like to hurt her." You need to be a little less rageful about it.

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Joanne Calderwood

Do women fighters scare you?

Sometimes. In my second major fight, in India I fought a girl who head-butted me, and she was like grabbing the cage, screaming like a maniac. To me, that came across as a weakness. When you're a fighter you should be able to stay calm and be focused. It shouldn't dissolve into this explosion of anger. I just want to yell at them, "Calm down, sweetie! It's not that bad!"

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Aisling Daly

Your first big win happened in Denmark, when you beat your opponent with something called a "guillotine choke." Is that as horrible as it sounds?

You're constricting the major blood vessels. What you do is, you wrap your arms around the person's neck, and then using a squeezing motion, you can cut off the blood supply. You can use your legs as well to maybe wrap around the person's waist to make the choke hold tighter. But you can also finish it standing.

But you're not actually separating a head from its body though, right?

No. [Pause.] Well maybe, if you do it for too long.

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Aisling Daly

What's the worst injury you've ever given somebody?

I don't think I've ever done anything too crazy. I gave a couple people concussions. And hyperextended some elbows and stuff. But I haven't done anything too bad. And I've never been badly injured myself. I've had one cut on my cheek and I had to get a couple of stitches for that, but that's probably the worst thing. It just bleeds a lot. Get used to blood and you're fine.

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Aisling Daly

Are you ever afraid in the Octagon?

No. I don't think like that. I think if you're worried about getting hurt or injured, you shouldn't be doing this.

Find a line of work where they don't use guillotine chokes?

Yeah. Like a nice desk job.

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Aisling Daly

Are women more emotional about fighting than men? And if so, is that a good thing?

Sometimes, yeah, I've seen that. But for me personally, I don't let emotions get involved. Most of the times, I have zero emotions for my opponent. I actually have no personal feelings towards them at all.

Wow. You're cold-blooded.

An opponent is just an obstacle to a win.

You're from Ireland, where apparently they know how to drink. In a Guinness drinking competition between you and I, who would win?

You, definitely. I can't drink Guinness. That's like drinking your dinner. I wouldn't be able to beat you at Guinness. But I can drink when I get going.

What's your alcohol of choice?

Wine or vodka. But not together!

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Lisa Ellis

You're the winningest member of the cast. Do you have any advice for your opponents, other than "meet the inevitable agony of defeat with humility and grace?"

Yeah, that sounds about right. [Laughs.] Just expect that it’s going to be tough. You’re probably not going to get an easy win if you do beat me. Watch yourself, because I’ll catch you.

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